Monday, September 28, 2009

Colorado finished its stretch of 3 games in 8 days with a quiet draw in Kansas City. Honestly there isn't much to say about this game. The Rapids were obviously hoping to steal 3 points by scoring on a counter-attack and sneaking out of town with a 1-0 win, but otherwise were happy with a scoreless draw. While I would have preferred 3 points I can't blame the Rapids for this strategy given their short time between games and the injury situation.

The Rapids had 3 shots on target total, the best from Cummings after 27 minutes that forced Hartman to make a diving save. The Wizards only had 4 shots on target themselves, and only one was really dangerous. KC had back to back corner kicks late in the the 2nd half. The first went to an unmarked Conrad behind the back post who put it off the post and it was then cleared for another corner kick. The second one fell to Zoltan on the front post. He tried to squeeze it between Burpo and the post but Kimura had it covered. He took the shot off his groin but kept it out and after a few minutes in pain he tenderly reentered and finished the game. The only other notable events were late in the game when Ballouchy picked up a yellow for a bad tackle and Casey got a soft yellow for a tackle right at the end of stoppage time. This puts them both one game away from suspension with no chance of having one knocked off for good behavior.

My key to the game was showing up if we wanted to go to the playoffs. We weren't stunningly good, but we improved over the two games against San Jose. Obviously the game plan was to be conservative and be happy with the point. The team executed that plan well and got the job done.

Other Observations:

With the other results the Rapids playoff picture significantly improved. Two wins gets us all but mathematically in, a win and a draw will probably be enough

Kimura and Harvey did well in their new winger roles. I'm not sure they have enough defensive cover to play that formation on a wide field, but the narrow field of KC worked well for it

KC fans are complaining about time-wasting, but I can't blame the Rapids for their game plan. And Hersig seemed to be happy to waste time when Wolff was off the field getting treatment for an injury.

After a couple of unsettled games in the back line the Rapids did a good job of containing the Wizards attack. Kimura's save off the line was the closest they got

Player of the Game: Preston Burpo. He marshaled the defense well, kept anything from getting dangerous, and posted a shutout. Just what you want from a keeper.